Tottenham Boss Likely To Rest First-Team Stars Against Palace

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino has revealed that he’s likely to rest first-team stars Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen for their trip to Crystal Palace on Saturday evening, given the physical demands of domestic, European and international football.

Alli (hamstring) and Eriksen (stomach) have both been struggling of late but are expected to take part in their countries respective upcoming fixtures, leaving Pochettino with little choice but to shuffle his pack in the hope of keeping the pair relatively fresh in the run-up to the always frantic festive period.

Having battled hard to secure a vital 2-1Champions League win at home to PSV onTuesday night in which Alli and Eriksen started and completed 90 minutes, the Argentine is clearly worried about a potential burn-out of the two key midfielders and feels as though the trip to SE25 may provide the perfect opportunity to give them both a rest.

In recent seasons, commentators have regularly trotted out cliches about Selhurst Park being a “difficult place to go” but this season more than any other, the Eagles are proving that to be nothing more than a baseless myth. Thanks to Huddersfield’s victory over Fulham on Monday night, Roy Hodgson’s men are now the (not so) proud owners of the worst home record in the Premier League for the 2018/19 season; a fact made all the worse when you realise that Spurs are currently the best away side in the division to boot.

With the likes of Moussa Dembele, Eric Dier, Danny Rose, Jan Vertonghen and Victor Wanyama also believed to be missing for the Champions League chasers, tomorrow evening’s clash looks to be anything but straightforward on paper. Let’s hope Roy Hodgson and co. can build upon the point they earned against Arsenal in their last home outing by going one better this time.